(Having trouble viewing this message? See it online here: http://www.aweber.com/t/L0AuE.) Dear
,
Happy Halloween! I confess to loving this holiday -- how about you? There's something about kids in costumes with great big grins that just does something to my heart. Like in this photo of my two, circa 1994....
But Halloween has always been about far more than trick-or-treating, fun as that is. You may know that, as ask.com explains, "The name Halloween (originally spelled Hallowe'en) is a contraction of All Hallows Even
, meaning the day before All Hallows Day (better known as All Saints Day), a Catholic holiday commemorating Christian saints and martyrs observed since the early Middle Ages on November 1."
The word "hallow" actually means "to make or set apart as holy."
Today I am "setting apart" so many aspects of life as holy. My heart is full on behalf of so many people. As I greet trick-or-treaters, I'll be thinking of all who have lost so much to Hurricane Sandy, and of my niece and nephew, whose son, born just this morning, was whisked away from them to another hospital because he had two seizures. And of my sister, whose heart is so heavy on the day of her first grandchild's birth. Nothing to do but pray and wait and hope that further news will bring a flood of relief, not heartbreak. And all the while, I'll be feeling a bittersweet anticipation for the birth of my first own grandchild in April -- my daughter just texted me that she heard her baby's heartbeat for the first time today.
And as I pray for safekeeping and comfort and grace, there's joy mixed in at the thought of how good it will be to arrive at the Sunset Inn this Friday for the WordPlay Coastal Retreats I'll be leading. And fulfillment as I remember the writing and possibilities created by the participants of this past Saturday's Fall Writing Retreat. While the photo quality is poor, these faces tell the story of a hallowed day of sharing stories and laughter, love and loss:
Isn't it amazing, how many conflicting emotions we can experience at any one time? Isn't the community of "kindred spirits" a hallowed thing?
Hallowed be writing for helping us to hold the holiness of life, and, yes, loss, too, which makes our hearts bigger.
Hallowed be those who risk their lives to rescue those in danger. Hallowed be the sun after the storm. Hallowed be those who love even when it hurts, who comfort each other in their losses. Hallowed be the grown-ups who open their doors to gleeful children. Hallowed be flickering candles.
Hallowed be those who pick up their pens to honor the gifts that our lives are....
Maureen
Upcoming WordPlay
For information about other offerings happening soon, visit www.wordplaynow.com/current.htm
COASTAL WRITING RETREAT
Renew yourself, whether you are a practicing writer, closet writer, or as-yet-to-pick-up-the-pen writer! The techniques and prompts we'll use will spur your imagination, and can be used to create nonfiction, fiction, and/or poetry-the choice is yours. There'll be ample free time to savor your beautifully appointed private room with king-sized bed, private bath and balcony, the large porches with rocking chairs and swings, and the coastal setting.
WHERE: The Sunset Inn, 9 North Shore Dr., Sunset Beach, NC 28468
WHEN: Friday, November 2 - Sunday, November 4, 2012
OR
Friday, November 9 - Sunday, November 11, 2012
(Two separate retreats; choose the dates that work for you)
TO REGISTER: Contact the Sunset Inn at 888.575.1001 or 910.575.1000 (if you would like to handpick your room, view your choices here
first, then call). Because the Inn is holding rooms for you, our participants, they are blocked off as unavailable online.
$419 includes retreat sessions, two nights' lodging, two breakfasts and Saturday lunch (hotel tax and Saturday dinner at a local restaurant not included). Register soon - this is a popular event. There are only a few spaces available. The Inn will hold your reservation with a credit card.
EVERYTHING YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT POETRY (But Were Afraid to Ask)
Do you sometimes find poetry confusing or intimidating? Or do you enjoy writing and reading it, but feel uncertain about whether you're "doing it right"? Or would you like a more thorough understanding of what makes a great poem (yours or someone else's)? Then this poetry extravaganza is for you. Expect a lively good time exploring what makes a poem a poem, the knowledge you need to confidently create and revise poetry, and the opportunity to ask any question you've ever had about poetry but were afraid to ask. $97/3 sessions. Includes handouts and a take-home poetry toolkit loaded with information and tools so that you can create your own poetry. WHERE:
South Charlotte area. Details will be provided upon registration.
WHEN: Wednesdays, 7 pm - 9 pm, November 28, December 5 & December 12
TO REGISTER: Click here to download a printable registration form to mail in.
Or register online:
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=66WGQ54T9J3YJ
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Featured Writing
There will never be a better day to share this riff on Halloween I wrote several years ago! And don't forget that I would love to have you send in writing to consider featuring! See details below.
Halloween Sweetness
by
Maureen Ryan Griffin
Call me a heretic -- growing up, Halloween was my favorite holiday. Now, I was a good Catholic girl; I knew trick-or-treating was not helping me get to heaven. There were no colored eggs in baskets; no presents under a tree. No cute cottontail hopped, no jolly Santa ho-ho, ho-ed. So how could I love Halloween best? It didn't hurt that Catholic school children always got the next day off for All Saint's Day. Or that All Saint's Day happened to be my birthday. All that sweet stuff didn't hurt either. Will Rogers never met a man he didn't like, and I, well, I never met a c
andy bar I didn't like -- Snickers, Baby Ruth's, Butterfingers... I even liked candy corn and the taffy twisted in orange wrappers. When you're a kid, Halloween is about the candy. But Christmas and Easter brought plenty of sweet treats of their own. There had to be more. And there was. An evening in disguise, trolling for goodies under the Milky Way -- pure fun. The glow of jack-o'-lantern grins, the smell of roasting pumpkin, the crunch of autumn leaves underfoot, the treat bag growing heavier with each doorbell -- pure delight.
Halloween offered freedom and adventure no other holiday could match as my brothers and I roamed the neighborhood in the dark with no accompanying adult. The familiar streets we traveled every day were dizzyingly exciting under an autumn moon. Halloween taught me to count, as, afterward, I lined up my loot in neat rows. Halloween taught me to negotiate, as my brother Tim and I struck deals. No, you can't have a Mars bar for two lollipops. But throw in three Hershey's kisses and a Tootsie roll pop and I'll consider it. Most of all, Halloween
taught me, as Blanche DuBois in "A Streetcar named Desire" phrased it, that I could depend "on the kindness of strangers." I was the most timid of children, afraid to approach almost everyone. Thanks to Halloween, I discovered that people could smile when they saw me, could gladly give to me, could be counted on for kindness, like our neighbor on Cypress Street who handed us still-warm bags of roasted cashews each year. Now I'm the one with my porch light on, ready to give the children in my neighborhood a treat. And a welcoming smile.
For in the end, that's what Halloween's really about - not the candy, but the community. Not heaven, but the sweetness that can be found here on earth, on each other's doorsteps.
WordPlay Now! Writing Prompt
This is WordPlay -- so why not revel in the power and potential of one good word after another? This week, it's "hallow."
Here are two choices for your writing pleasure.
1. Create a piece of writing that features Halloween in some way. 2. Make a list of all that you hold holy, beginning with the words "Hallowed be...."
Want to be featured in a future Word-zine?
Send in a piece of your writing that you think could inspire other WordPlayers to write. 500-word limit, please.) You can send something inspired by this writing, or anything else of your choosing. Email your words
to WordPlay here and your piece may be chosen for a future Word-zine.
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MAUREEN RYAN GRIFFIN, an award-winning poetry and nonfiction writer, is the author of Spinning Words into Gold, a Hands-On Guide to the Craft of Writing, a grief workbook entitled I Will Never Forget You, and two collections of poetry, This Scatter of Blossoms and
When the Leaves Are in the Water. She believes, as author Julia Cameron says, "We are meant to midwife dreams for one another."
Maureen also believes that serious "word work" requires serious WordPlay, as play is how we humans best learn -- and perform. What she loves best is witnessing all the other dreams that come true for her clients along the way. Language, when used with intentionality and focus, is, after all, serious fuel for joy. Here's to yours! 
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